AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers: Our attacking players must learn to play and score without Sunil Chhetri – Igor Stimac

India’s football team head coach Igor Stimac reckons their attacking players must learn to play and score without Sunil Chhetri. The Indian captain is 37-years-old and he recently said he will continue playing till he is enjoying the game.

However, there is no doubt that the Blue Tigers have always been reliant on the shoulders of the veteran to do the scoring for them. Chhetri scored a brace in India’s opening clash of Group D against Cambodia in the ongoing AFC Asian Cup qualifiers to help his team by 2-0 at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Wednesday.

The talisman was able to take his International goals tally to 82 after he scored two goals.

Sharing his thoughts on the match, Stimac said, “Just a few words on the win. A big thanks to the boys who played today. It was really difficult because you couldn’t breathe outside today. I understand that the brain isn’t working properly and oxygen isn’t coming up there when needed. The players did the best they could do today and got the result we wanted. They got the job done, which is very important. I asked for two things today, goals and clean sheets. I would’ve been happier with 3-4 goals but was happy with two too. I’m confident about what is coming up.”

In fact, India had a lot of chances and they could have won by a better margin if they had grabbed their opportunities. The Croatian added that a fair result would have been if they had won by 4-0.

The 54-year-old added he wanted players like Liston Colaco, Manvir Singh, Udanta Singh, and Ashique Kuruniyan to score.

He added, “A fair result would’ve been if we had won by 4-0. We had 4-5 more clear chances, so two more goals would’ve served well. But, we must be humble. The players are trying but are not finding a way to score. You must wonder why I took Sunil and Brandon (Fernnandes) out, who were the two more influential players. We have three games and we need to protect the players. And in this game, it’s again Sunil. Others are still trying but aren’t able to find the goals. I expect Liston (Colaco), Manvir (Singh), Udanta (Singh), and Ashique (Kuruniyan) to score. They all need to start scoring. Our boys need to learn to start playing without Sunil.”

Asked if the game went to their plan, Stimac added that every match has its own challenges and his team did a decent job.

He concluded, “Every game brings different things. It’s how the players can adapt to what I’m asking. As a coach analyses the opponents and finds the biggest weaknesses of the players. I ask them to adapt to the things when the time comes and that is a big task. When it’s a stronger opponent it’s difficult to press, but we can use that against lower opposition. We have youth in our squad and we have gained a lot of experiences for them in the past few years. It’s the time that they give back. As you saw today, Roshan (Singh), Suresh (Singh), and Akash (Mishra) played as if they played for 100 games. They are the players who will wear the shirt for the next 10-12 years. The results will keep coming.”

India will next face Afghanistan on Saturday at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata.